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Monday, August 30, 2010

The Most Dangerous Job: The Worst

The cleaning crews of the meat packing industry have some of the most dangerous jobs there are. One person was pulled into a conveyor belt and torn apart, another fell from a skinning machine while cleaning it and one had his head crushed in a pork –loin processing machine. Many other fatal and serious injuries occur in these slaughter houses.


As illegal immigrants replaced many skilled workers in the plants and line speeds increased, the job became a lot more dangerous. The government did not do much to help the workers stay safe. In fact, the federal government placed restrictions on the enforcement of health and safety laws. The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was unfunded by the government. As time went by the number of OSHA inspectors was eventually cut by 20 percent and could no longer show up to a plant unannounced. Instead they looked at injury logs and if the number of injuries was below average, they were not allowed to enter the plant. These injury logs, however, were constantly changed and falsified by the plants. IBP had two copies of injury logs; one with every injury recorded and another they would strictly show only to inspectors with a dramatically lower number of injuries.

I honestly do not understand or like the way the meat industry works. It is cruel to the animals whom are not even fully dead when hung upside down on hooks and slaughtered, and it is cruel to the workers who work so hard to get the job done and are seriously injured while on the job. I also do not understand why the government is so lenient with the meat packing industry and takes power away from the ones who are trying to ensure safety to the workers. The government has the power to give the health administrators the right to inspections and to keep people safe, but they choose not to. It seems as if they do not care or are not as sincere because many of the workers at the plants getting injured or killed are illegal immigrants. However, it is still unfair and the government should take more control.

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